From the CEO’s Chair

I must start this week by congratulating James Tredwell on a magnificent World Cup debut. I was conscious last Thursday of less and less work being done in the office as his spell continued, and could hear more and more people listening on-line! All involved with the Club are really pleased for him and hope he takes a leading role again in the Quarter-Final against Sri Lanka.

Whilst England were continuing their adventure on the Indian sub-continent, so our players were starting training in the Middle East. It was a very late decision to go, but given the likely lack of quality practice in Canterbury was an easy decision to make. Reports coming back are very positive – and there is no doubt all will have achieved considerably more as a result.

I have now seen the scores from players’ pre-season fitness testing (mentioned last week) and all can be very proud. Whilst I have been aware of hill running sessions and so on over the winter, it was great to see it paying dividends with these improved results.

The squads’ tweeting has reached new levels in Dubai. It is one of the dilemmas of modern sports management to know how to manage twitter. It can, of course, have downsides, but as long as all use it responsibly, it really can increase supporters’ sense of involvement. For that reason, I believe that it is a valuable tool and one that can help the promotion of the Club.

Talking of useful tools, this week the Club launched a new webcam. This gives a picture live from the ground every 30 seconds. Come the start of the season this should be very handy for those wanting to know the prospects of play, as it will be possible to see if the covers are on or off. This idea came from a member’s suggestion and I certainly believe it is a good addition to the new website.

Earlier this week, I started to write an update on what will have been achieved on the ground by the end of this phase of development work. It surprised me just how much has happened in the last 5 months. I will publish the list next week – it is long – I am sure it will only heighten your desire to get to the St Lawrence to see the changes. Only 35 days, 19 hours and 3 minutes until the first cricket at Canterbury.